Pupil Premium, how do I find out how it's spent?

[3MonthMaid]

I am a lone parent and while DD was in reception and part of year 1 she was on free school meals.

I knew about the pupil premium and in fact in her reception year the school paid for her to attend some after -school clubs. I was happy with that. I was also told at the time that it was the last year they were doing that as they were going to use the money differently to directly help all FSM children.

I didn't think much more of it until recently when I found out that DD was actually getting the pupil premium due to ever6 and would do for pretty much her whole primary time.

I have not seen any sign of anything being done for any particular children. Particularly not for DD. I'm not expecting her to have a nice new desk or anything equally quantifiable but I would like to know how the school as a whole allocates this extra money.

How can I find out? Would I need to go to the head? I just want a vague outline as to how this premium is benefitting my DD and others.

bizzey - As Admission indicates, it is up to the school to decide how they spend the pupil premium. You cannot ask them to spend the money on something specific for your son. They may spend the pupil premium on something of use to all FSM pupils such as additional TA support.

thanks prh47, admission's view is more like the one that I've been told is the reality of the stance that Ofsted are taking and I've also been told that they are looking for records of spending by individual child.

Whilst it's quite right that government funding is spent in the most effective way I don't think it's valid to assume that ££ spent translate to progress made.

My apologies if I offended Owllady. I know nothing about special schools. You mention PP has gone down, so I'm not sure it can be the same thing we are talking about as I've researched that Pupil Premium is going up.
However I do think it is important to clarify the difference, as parents expecting 10K are going to feel very short changed if we can't see what it is being spent on.

Schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium as they see fit. HOWEVER, they will be held accountable for how they have used the additional funding to support pupils from low-income families to raise their attainment level nearer to that of non free school meal students. They should also be reporting how the money is spent on the school website.

The amount this year went up from £600 to £900 and it is expected next year to rise to £1200.

I would speak to your Pupil Premium (SENCO?) teacher and ask for some accountability and help.

As an aside, research shows that spending this money on teaching Assistants doesn't work!

"As an aside, research shows that spending this money on teaching Assistants doesn't work!"

Prehaps it depends on how the teaching assistants are used. A school near me has put extra teaching assistants in reception, key stage 1 and key stage 2 to ensure that someone listen's to the children's reading every day. This particular school has recently been praised by OFSTED for closing the gap in achievement between fsm children and the national average.

Some school pay for one to one tutoring.

The whole pupil premium thing is a bit of an experiment. As times goes on schools will get more efficent with the money. It is also a bit early to tell what works and what doesn't.

"As an aside, research shows that spending this money on teaching Assistants doesn't work!"

ReallyTired - the school you refer to DOES sounds like it is doing great stuff regarding children's reading and, I agree it IS early days, but here is the article.......

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/09/20/schools-need-spend-pupil-premium-poor-students_n_1899211.html

This article too... www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1391419/Teaching-assistants-effect-boosting-grades-concludes-Pupil-Premium-report.html

www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6264988

loopylilo

I found your links interesting and it makes sense. There is a difference between having a TA listening to five year olds read while a qualified teacher does the teaching and a situation where TAs are treated as unqualified teachers.

I suppose there are two research areas.

1. What works for fsm children
2. How to use TAs effectively.

That is interesting loopylilo, thanks for posting.

Thing is its a bit of a non-issue for me in one way, because my DD is doing extremely well at school. I hesitate to say this next bit because it will come across as stealth boasting but its not, I've never mentioned it on MN before but in this context I'm going to - she is according to her teacher in the top 5% of children her age nationally when it comes to academic achievement shame the same can't be said for her manners at home

BUT when I read the stuff about how even high achieving FSM pupils should be targeted to make sure they reach their full potential as even in this group there is a gap between rich and poor children, I do have a bit of a moment at the fact the PP money is going on things that don't really make much difference to her.

Now on one level that's fine, because she doesn't need extra support etc to do well and it seems fair that the extra help goes to children who do need it whether or not they are on FSM. But if some of that extra funding could be spent at least in part on something that would stretch her and help her make the most of her abilities it would seem more fitting use of it then to be spent on a TA when its been shown that they don't actually improve outcomes. And I hate myself for thinking like that and fully expect to be told how entitled I am, and I can see why because my DD is doing well and other children are more in need of that extra funding than she is.

Valid points, NigelYerABawbag.

PS As a mum, what's your secret to your DD doing so well at school? Clearly good parenting.